WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Head coach Sean McVay and quarterback Matthew Stafford addressed the media on Wednesday prior to the team's season opener in Detroit. The Rams will take on the Lions on Sunday Night Football, beginning the season in the same place their 2023 campaign ended. The full press conferences can be viewed below.
On Thursday, both offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur and defensive coordinator Chris Shula addressed the media, along with star wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, to discuss the upcoming playoff rematch.
The Rams are preparing for a hostile environment at Ford Field, where both Stafford and Jonah Jackson, who will now be playing center as opposed to guard, are returning to play their former team.
Here were some of the most significant quotes about the Rams' Week 1 matchup:
"It's just about the importance of the communication, especially when our offense is out on the field... It's just using that experience for the guys that were here, the importance of non-verbal communication, but it was rocking, it's a real credit to that city and those fans." - McVay
McVay had previously said that the atmosphere at Ford Field during last year's NFC Wildcard game was the most intense he'd experienced since the 2019 NFC Championship in New Orleans. Because of that, he's emphasizing the importance of non-verbal communication and getting everyone on the same page regardless of the atmospheric impact.
The Rams fell 24-23 last January, ending their season, while the Lions went on to the NFC Championship. The stadium may not be quite as rowdy as it was during the playoffs, but a season opener on Sunday Night Football is sure to draw out a raucous crowd.
"It's awesome because they're passionate about their football team," McVay said of the fans. "And they said some things that, you better have some thick skin to be able to handle, but hopefully they don't mean them personally."
"Jared [Goff] has played really well, he's earned that contract... You hear them talk about the ownership that he has and being able to take on more... He and Ben Johnson you can see have a really good rapport. If anything there's a tremendous amount of respect, but it's been a few years since we've been together but you've still seen a lot of the great things he did here show up there." - McVay
Jared Goff spent the first five seasons of his career in Los Angeles, leading the Rams to a Super Bowl appearance in 2019. After being traded in a package that included Stafford, Goff has flourished in Detroit over the past three seasons. He threw for 4,575 yards, the third-most of his career, and 30 touchdowns last year and threw for 277 yards and one touchdown in the first round of the playoffs.
Now, he will face the squad that drafted him first overall in 2016 to open the 2024 season in primetime.
"We have a new set of guys and a new set of coaches and so many new faces around, we got a new building we're in... The vibes, as you say, that comes with winning football games, so we are going to try to continue to do that." - Stafford
There's been a decent amount of change for the Rams this offseason, so when Stafford was asked if the "vibes" carried over, he answered, "I don't know that it does." Half of the Rams' captains from 2023 are no longer with the team, and last year's defensive coordinator, Raheem Morris, is now the head coach of the Falcons. The team also moved their facility from Thousand Oaks to Woodland Hills.
So, Stafford is treating this year as a fresh start, a new opportunity to build on some of their past success and flush out things that need improvement. He plans to build up those new vibes through winning.
"Yeah, I feel the crowd, 100%. Motivating factor. Love it. I'm one of the guys who walks into the opposing stadium, everyone has their headphones on, I don't. I want to hear all of it, I want to smell it, I want to feel like it's football." - Stafford
When Stafford walks into Ford Field with no headphones on Sunday, the sights, sounds and smells will be familiar ones. After spending the first 12 years of his career with the Lions, this will be just the second time Stafford enters their stadium as a visitor. He acknowledged that every game is its own individual event, but he'll at least have a level of familiarity with the opposing locker room this time around.
Stafford said that going into a "hostile environment" to start the season will be a challenge, but it's one he's looking forward to.
"(The offensive line), they take on the mentality of their coach (Dan Campbell). You really felt that in '21 when they first started kind of getting the thing rolling... How they run off the ball, how physical they played, how they play together." - Shula
Campbell is about as tough a coach as there is in the NFL, and his team has adopted that hard-nosed mindset. That starts with the offensive line. Left tackle Taylor Decker, center Frank Ragnow and right tackle Penei Sewell highlight a physically gifted line that is perfect for Detroit's run-heavy approach to the game.
They lost Jackson to the Rams, but have retained most of the other pieces that made them great a year ago. The Lions' offensive line even ranked first on Pro Football Focus' position group rankings. A young Rams defensive line will certainly have their hands full in the season opener.
"You've got to be ready to adapt and adjust because it's Week 1. Yeah, they have the same coordinator, the same head coach, quite a few of the same players, but they got a lot of new guys on that outside." - LaFleur
Both the Rams and Lions are returning a lot of players from their 2023 playoff brawl, but that doesn't mean the approach will be the same. Still, the Lions have some new faces in key positions.
Both of Detroit's starting cornerbacks are new to the team: veteran Carlton Davis and rookie Terrion Arnold. They are physical corners that have thrived on an island in their respective careers, Davis with the Buccaneers and Arnold at Alabama. That is something LaFleur and company have taken into account while preparing for this matchup.
"It has been a while (since I entered a season this healthy)... Being able to mentally see something but not have your body respond and do what you want it to do, that's tough. But being able to just go out there and just see, react, do what your body has been trained to react and handle the load that you're putting on it, it's what makes this game really fun." - Kupp
Kupp hasn't played a full season since 2021, when he won the triple crown for pass-catchers (leading the league in receiving yards, catches and touchdowns). This is the best Kupp has felt entering a season in a long time and he is excited to be the fully healthy version of himself once again.
Kupp said he doesn't treat the Lions differently than any other opponent, saying that he is giving full effort every time he's out of the field. On Sunday, he'll be able to do that at full health.
"I feel like I had success (last year) but the standard (that Kupp sets) has not been reached yet, because he continues to push it every day." - Nacua
After breaking the rookie record for both receptions and receiving yards last season, Nacua isn't satisfied. He believes that he hasn't yet reached the standard that Kupp has set for him as the veteran to emulate in the Rams' facility.
The two trained together at Kupp's house in the offseason and Nacua said that he learned a lot about route running, including "the intricacies in some of our quick-game routes." He's understandings things like leverage and timing better than he did last season.
Nacua caught nine balls for 181 yards and a touchdown last game against the Lions, and he'll look to build on that success this Sunday.
